Beloved Melrose crossing guard brings cheer in costume for every holiday

MELROSE, Mass. — A jolly crossing guard in Melrose has become popular around town as kids and adults alike anticipate his costumes for every holiday and occasion.

Bill Beardsley, who has been working for the Department of Conservation and Recreation for about five years crossing students outside Melrose Middle and High School, got into character as Santa Claus on Friday for early release to start winter break.

As snow began to fall at the corner of Fellsway and Melrose streets, Beardsley greeted students, posed for pictures with children, and cracked jokes in the crosswalk as he helped them safely get home. Two other crossing guards cheerfully joined him as Mrs. Claus and Rudolph.

“You have to activate me, guys! Ring the bell!” he told the students, pointing to his new “please ring bell for service” signs he had set up at the busy intersection.

“Sometimes, kids just show up miraculously at the corner,” Beardsley said. “We don’t see them, we don’t hear them. And we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just ring a bell?’ So, I made the stand, got the bells, and here we are.”

Beardsley’s costumes include the Easter Bunny, Cupid, a Pilgrim, a leprechaun, a high school graduate and many more.

After the last day of school last year, he camped outside the high school in a lawn chair, relaxing with a book, his crossing guard jacket hung up under an umbrella, with a coffee, a cooler and an “off duty” sign. A few months later, on the last day of summer vacation, he took his same position, lounging with a book on the lawn beside a “tomorrow” sign.

“I love it so much. The kids are responding so well,” Beardsley said. “I think it has a positive effect all the way around. I think there’s a little less traffic problems when I’m dressed up.”

The job is a change of character for 74-year-old Bill, who spent 29 years as a physician’s assistant working in emergency rooms, operating rooms and clinics.

“Having to get up and get dressed for 29 years, tie, the whole ten yards, that’s a lot of work,” Beardsley said. “So, this is joy for me.”

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